ADVOCATE/INTERCESSOR Kay Keith Peebles 5/31/19 19.18
Moses has become one of my favorite Old Testament heroes. The Bible says he was the most humble man on earth. See Numbers 12:3. He was miraculously saved from death by the God-motivated wisdom of his mother Jochebed and Pharaoh’s daughter. He grew up in the palace of Pharoah with all the wealth of Egypt around him. He learned the history and customs of the Pharaohs and the culture of Egypt but he remained the son of Hebrew slaves. When he became an adult he saw the treachery of Egypt in regard to his people and killed an Egyptian when he interceded on behalf of the Israelites. Although he was an advocate for his people, he defended them by the arm of his flesh, not by the power and authority of God. He had to flee for his safety and solitude re-locating on the back side of the desert near Mt. Sinai.
During his time in the desert, Moses was approached by God on Mt. Sinai and commissioned to be His advocate for the Hebrew people. The Lord God desired to set His people free from the oppression of Egypt but needed an advocate/intercessor like Moses to work on their behalf. God used Moses’ humble shepherd’s staff as a point of contact from which His power and authority would be displayed before Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. It also reminded Moses that the power and authority he walked in came from God, not himself. His staff became a basis of protection for Moses’ ego because many signs and wonders were seen when he spoke for God and used the staff as the power source of God.
Once the people were free from Egypt’s oppression, Moses led the two million Hebrews from Egypt toward the land God had promised Abraham. His task was daunting because the Hebrews had been highly influenced during their 400-year emersion in the Egyptian culture. God used Moses to organize the people into a nation established upon righteous laws and upright judges for their protection and livelihood. He also taught the people how to properly worship their Creator and Deliverer through the leadership of the priesthood. The Lord continually proved Himself to the people by leading them daily with signs and wonders which provided their every need while journeying through the wilderness.
Although the power of God was clearly with Moses, the people often grumbled and complained in rebellion against his leadership, which came through God. There were several occasions where the Lord killed many of the people because they continued to rebel, causing the others to sin before God. Moses became the advocate and intercessor between the people and the Lord, standing in the gap on their behalf. The first such incident occurred when Moses went up Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from the Lord. While he was with God, the people incited Aaron to build a golden calf for them to worship, a practice they learned from the Egyptians. The Lord told Moses the people had turned away from His instructions and corrupted themselves by worshipping an idol. He said they were stiff-necked, stubborn and rebellious. He continued, “Now, therefore, let Me alone and do not interfere, so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you (your descendants) a great nation.” Exodus 32:10.
Moses quickly interceded for the Israelites by reminding the Lord the Egyptians would blame Him for killing His own people whom He had delivered. He also reminded the Lord that they were the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the promised generation who would inherit the Promised Land. The Lord then changed His mind. Exodus 32:11-14.
When Moses returned to the people and saw the debauchery they had committed, he was appalled. They had humiliated the Lord before their enemies. Moses stood at the gate of the camp and called forth all those who stood with him and the Lord. The sons of Levi, the priestly tribe came forward and Moses instructed them to kill those who continued in pagan worship. They killed 3,000 men. Exodus 32:25-28.
He then commanded the people remaining to consecrate themselves before the Lord. Afterward, he went back to the Lord and sought to make atonement for the people’s sin. “So Moses returned to the LORD, and said, ‘Oh these people have committed a great sin [against You], and have made themselves a god of gold. Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of Your book which You have written (kill me)!’ But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book [not you], But now go, lead the people [to the place] where I have told you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you; nevertheless, in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin!’” Exodus 32:31-34.
Moses was willing to give his life for the people! If it had been possible for him to make atonement for them, he offered his life in exchange for theirs. That is the love, the character and the faithfulness of an advocate/intercessor!
The Apostle Paul had that same kind of love for the people of God. After his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul gave his life for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was an advocate and intercessor like Moses. He was also willing to give up his eternity in heaven for the sake of the Israelite people. “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me by the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For [if it were possible] I would wish that I myself were accursed, from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my natural kinsmen, who are Israelites, to who belongs the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.” See Romans 9:1-4.
Paul knew the Gospel was to be preached first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. He also knew that most had rejected Jesus and persecuted believers as he had done prior to his conversion. He ends the 8th Chapter of Romans with a powerful declaration. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. See Romans 8:38-39.
Later in his ministry, Paul went to Rome in chains even though he had been warned by many, including a prophet of God. The last years of his life were spent in a Roman prison. His love for God moved him to risk all for the sake of sharing the Gospel with others. Eventually, He was beheaded and martyred.
The greatest Advocate/Intercessor is Jesus. He willingly left His heavenly Father to come to earth to teach us about the Kingdom and to die for our sins. Our sins accrued the penalty of death, but Jesus gave His own life paying our debt because of His great love for us. Only the sinless blood of Jesus would qualify as the perfect and pure sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. 1 John Chapter 2 describes His role as our Advocate and our role as a faithful follower of Christ Jesus. “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this, we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this, we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:1-6.
The Greek word for Advocate is parakletos, meaning intercessor, counselor, one who comes beside to help, one who defends another, encourager, legal advisor, pleader, proxy. Jesus stands in the heavenly courtroom pleading our case before God. The Holy Spirit is our parakletos on earth, guiding us into all truth and empowering us to walk in the righteousness Jesus demonstrated for us when He was here.
We have been given everything we need to walk in righteousness. The Israelites that died in the wilderness did so because they wanted the blessing without the moral responsibility to conform to the image of God. Today, we have an even greater helper, the Holy Spirit. He will not only convict us of our sin, but He will also empower us to be set free from the “addiction” of sin. True repentance causes us to hate sin. Consecrating our lives to the LORD enables the Holy Spirit to empower us to resist the temptation to sin. Grace does not give us permission to sin, it gives us the time to seek the Lord, submit to His Lordship and become empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk continuously in the same righteousness Jesus walked.
We cannot lose! We have Jesus who died for our sins and stands as our Advocate before the Father continually interceding on our behalf. We also have the Holy Spirit who is not only beside us but lives in us, leading and guiding us into all truth. He also empowers us to submit to God, and resist the devil causing him to flee from us. When we do, we become triumphant and we will remain strong in the day of temptation!
